Society

Search for 14 missing in bus plunge extended

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-25 15:18

QING'AN, Heilongjiang - Rescuers have extended their search for 14 people who disappeared when a bus plunged into a river in Northeast China on Sunday, officials said on Tuesday.

More than 60 professional rescuers, including four divers, were searching the Hulan River, in Heilongjiang province, where the 29-seat bus plunged into the water, but had "made no progress," said Wu Dianfa, deputy head of Qing'an county in Heilongjiang province.

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Six people, including a 5-year-old girl, were killed in the accident, while the bus driver and two passengers were saved.

Weng Jialong, a county official said three of the bodies were found when the bus was recovered from the river at 9:30 pm Sunday.

By Tuesday, rescuers had extended their search to 30 km downstream.

The bus, with 23 people aboard, was about to drive onto a ferry when it plunged into the river in Qing'an county at 3 pm Sunday.

Ferry staff failed to get the passengers off before the vehicle mounted the ferry, breaking transport regulations, Yang Baotian, deputy director with the Work Safety Supervision Administration of Heilongjiang province, said Monday.

The ferry service had been running without permission from the authorities, but it had regular passengers as it was the fastest way to cross the fast flowing river, which reaches up to 6 meters deep.

Gu Chunfeng, an operator of the ferry service, was detained, and the bus driver was being questioned, Yang said.